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LANGLEY — Welcome to the Friday Night Lights edition of Varsity Letters’ B.C. High School Football Report.
Your faithful reporter is broadcasting Friday’s UBC vs. Saskatchewan football game tonight and thus the posting of reports may be delayed.
Thanks for your patience. The complete story from Friday night’s game should be complete by Saturday morning but feel free to check in on us through the course of the night.
Thanks for your loyalty and your patience.
FRIDAY
TRIPLE A
EASTERN CONFERENCE
ST. THOMAS MORE 21 at ABBOTSFORD 14
ABBOTSFORD — On a day when both defences brought their best, it was the Knights’ special teams which made the biggest impression.
St. Thomas More opened scoring in the second quarter on a dynamic 60-yard punt return by receiver Michael Simone.
Then, late in the second quarter, Kaishaun Carter blocked a punt which STM recovered on the Abbotsford 10-yard line. Quarterback Dario Ciccone later capped the short drive with a two-yard keeper and a 14-0 halftime lead.
was able to run the ball into the endzone from 2 yards out to give STMC a 14 – 0 lead at the half.
After the Panthers pulled to within a score in the third quarter, Ciccone connected with Vasco Repole for a 50 yard gain, paving the way for Marc Abboud’s six-yard scoring run and a 21-7 lead.
For the Panthers (2-4, 2-2), it was tough to overcome some early errors and that put them into the unenviable position of having to play catch-up against a talented Knights (5-1, 3-1) team.
Nonetheless, the emerging Panthers’ defence stopped STM three times on a key fourth-and-short opportunities.
Running back Jalem Catlin once again came up big, this time rushing for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
Catlin’s 55-yard run in the third quarter pulled Abby to within 14-7, and he later capped a late drive with a four-yard scoring run to make the final score complete.
“Jalem Catlin showed that he is definitely a force to be reckoned with in the backfield and their defense made us work for every inch in this game,” said STM head coach Steve De Lazzari. “For the second straight week, we were missing a number of starters on both sides of the ball, so I was extremely proud of our effort today and our “next man up” mentality as many players stepped up big for us in this game.”
Rickey Parsons led all STM tacklers with seven, while Aaron Laguerta, Marc Abboud and Matthew Lemp had six tackles each. Carter, whose blocked punt was a pivotal point of the game, also contributed with four tackles.
Luke Szmutko led the Abbotsford defence with nine tackles.
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